Military GPS testing to go forward as U.S. Space Force lends allies M-Code receivers
NewsMarch 31, 2021
WASHINGTON. The U.S. Space Force (USSF) is loaning allied and partner nations the use of M-Code precise positioning service receiver cards for use in military GPS capability testing as part of a three-year multinational initiative established by USSF's Space and Missile Systems Center.
The arrangement-- initially established and coordinated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Chief Information Officer and Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs -- was deployed in December 2020 when Canada became the first cosigner of the document and were delivered the first receiver cards in February 2021. USSF leadership projects that France, Germany, the Republic of Korea, and the U.K will also receive Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) Increment 1 technology.
All countries partnering with the U.S. in this undertaking will conduct laboratory and field tests to evaluate the performance and compatibility of MGUE Increment 1 products with their countries' platforms and share their findings and lessons learned. USSF leadership state that Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden have expressed interest and intent in joining the agreement later in 2021.
M-Code is an upgrade to currently available GPS signals that enables more resilient positioning, navigation, and timing solutions with beefed-up security, antijam, and antispoof capabilities.
